


As Good As Later Gets

by JennaTalbot



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Mild Angst, W359 Secret Santa 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 20:28:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13131555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennaTalbot/pseuds/JennaTalbot
Summary: In between orbits on the Sol, Minkowski has her well-deserved break down, and Eiffel is there to pick up the pieces. Set somewhere in the middle of Episode 59.





	As Good As Later Gets

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Persimnon/Minwowski on tumblr! Happy Holidays!

“C-Commander?” Doug asked hesitantly.

Everyone was silent after the TRK had failed to attach to the hull. The countdown had been set until their next attempt, and everyone had split up, left to their own devices for the next one hundred and fifteen minutes. Pryce was off in the corner, and appeared to be sleeping, although Eiffel supposed she was probably plotting instead. Kepler was busy plugging commands into the console, and proceeding to get more and more frustrated with each failed attempt.

But Eiffel didn’t really care about them. He was more focused on Minkowski, or rather the lack of. She had drifted off into the next room of the pod, unnoticed by anyone until now. 

He hesitated before pulling himself all the way through the small hatch. 

Minkowski sniffed and quickly wiped her eyes. “Go away Eiffel.”

“Is… is everything-” Eiffel cut off mid sentence. Of course she wasn’t ok. None of this was ok, and that was a stupid question to ask and he knew it. 

“Don’t worry about it Eiffel, I’m fine.” Minkowski said stiffly, in a low voice. Her head was turned away from him where she was leaning against the wall. 

Eiffel took a shaky breath, and started over before he could lose his nerve. “You know Commander, you said that earlier too, and it wasn’t true then. You also said we could save the traumatized breaking down until later. From experience, I can tell you that being ejected into space is about as good as ‘later’ gets. And it gives you a lot of time to dive off the deep end and onto the Crazy Train.”

He was going for humor, but when Minkowski finally turned her face towards him, it was obvious that he missed the mark. He felt a pang in his chest when he saw the tear tracks staining her face.

“Eiffel… Doug. I’m sorry. I am  _ so  _ sorry.”

“Commander...?” Eiffel was confused as to what she was apologizing for. 

Minkowski let out a huff. “Where do I even start?”

“You don’t have to start, I’m the one who got us stuck out here,” Eiffel reminded her. He was the one that set that stupid manual on fire, he was the one who had gotten himself ejected into space. Again. He was the one stupid enough to not think about the consequences of his actions, again. Only this time, he had drug Minkowski down with him. 

She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You’re right,” she said flatly, and Eiffel winced. “But no, that’s not what I’m talking about.” She shook her head. 

There was a moment of silence. “I...I…” Minkowski tried to start again, but kept trailing off. 

Eiffel shifted uncomfortably, hovering just on the inside of the open hatch. 

Her eyes bored into his, and he was overwhelmed by the sheer force of the guilt and- fear?- that he could see there. “I punched you in the face. Not to say that I haven’t thought about it before, but I never thought I actually would…”

“Commander, that wasn’t you. You were being  _ mind controlled _ . We all were at some point, you can’t be held accountable for that,” Eiffel reasoned, keeping his voice low to match hers. Since when was he the reasonable one?   


Minkowski lowered her gaze and took a shaky breath. “If you hadn’t… If you didn’t…”

Eiffel knew what she was referring to. He was sure they would both be reliving that particular horror for the rest of their lives, however long that was. 

_ “In just a moment, I’m going to make the lieutenant step into the pressurization chamber. And a moment later, I’ll have her step out of the pressurization chamber. Without a spacesuit. That is, unless you report to the bridge and surrender yourself immediately.” _

_ “Go to hell.” _

_ “Not before the Lieutenant does.” _

_ “Goodbye, Officer Eiffel.” _

He shivered at the thought, those three words ringing around his head. That could have been the last thing Minkowski ever said to him, in the cold, detached voice of Dr. Pryce. And he would have watched her get blasted out of airlock four, helpless and unable to do anything to save her.

“I could… see, and hear. I  _ knew  _ what was going on but… it was like I couldn’t process it? My mind registered the facts, but didn’t register that I was in danger. Objectively, I knew that, but there was… no emotion. I didn’t care that I was about to die. And I could feel her, in my mind, planting her words there, making me say and do those things… I was about to open the airlock! And this time, I was going to do it myself!” Her voice had gone slightly hysterical. 

Horror dawned on Eiffel as he remembered that this wasn’t the first time Minkowski had been trapped in an airlock. It was probably for the best that her emotions hadn’t registered at the time. And the irony that he had used fire to save them that time when it had so clearly failed them this time wasn’t lost on him. 

Eiffel didn’t know what to say, so for once, he chose to remain silent. 

“And I know it was _her_ ,” Minkowski spat the word, “Making me do it, but it still would have been me! I would have opened that airlock with my own hands and let myself get sucked out into the void. And I would have been ok with it! I would have been just fine as I ran out of oxygen, my blood vaporized, my lungs collapsed, and I literally froze-” She broke off, her breathing ragged. 

Eiffel struggled to find something to say to fill the silence, which was only punctuated by Minkowski’s attempts to get her breathing back under control. He was not cut out for this.

What would he want someone to say to him, if he was in this position? What words could possibly make this situation any better? According to Minkowski, and Lovelace and Hera and the literal space aliens and well… everyone, his grasp on the English language wasn’t up to snuff for this.

Eiffel hesitated for a moment before gently pushing off of the wall behind him to drift over towards Minkowski. Thankfully, he hadn’t overshot it this time, and he reached the wall next to her in a manner that somewhat resembled controlled. 

“Hey,” he said gently. 

Minkowski didn’t respond, other than to keep taking shallow, rapid breaths. She sat as still as she could manage, avoiding eye contact. 

“Commander,” Eiffel tried again, but with no response. Minkowski didn’t try to move away from him, but she didn’t acknowledge his presence either. 

“Minkowski?” He was careful with the pronunciation, trying to do better, but again, with no reaction. 

Her face was blank, and Eiffel recognized that glazed over stare. He knew he had worn it before, more times than he cared to remember. Maybe this was a mistake, he should have left her alone…

But Eiffel didn’t think she wanted to be alone, not really. Not this time. At least, he hadn’t, in all the times following his space misadventures. 

“Renée?” He whispered. The name felt foreign and heavy on his tongue. 

That snapped her out of it, and she turned towards Eiffel, her eyes wide with shock. For a moment, she just looked at him. Suddenly, she launched herself off of the wall and into Doug, wrapping her arms around his slender form tightly. 

After a moment of surprise, Eiffel put his arms around her, hugging her back as they catapulted into the center of the room from the force of her movement. 

She had a death grip on him, and it really was crushing his ribs. His mind went back to the last time she had hugged him like this, when she had sought him out after he got back from his extended vacation on the U.S.S. Horrible Unending Nightmare. She had just as effectively cut off his airflow then too. But he stayed silent now, rubbing awkward circles on her back as she shook against him.

After what could have been an eternity but might have only been a few minutes, she pulled away, a sheepish smile on her face. “Sorry.”

Eiffel gave her one last squeeze before he let go. “It’s alright, don’t apologize for hugging,” he told her, echoing what he said last time.

“That was the first time you’ve ever called me Renée,” she mused quietly as they floated next to each other.

“It never… seemed like enough. Or it seemed like too much.” Eiffel shrugged.

“Thank you, Doug,” she finally murmured. 

“Commander-  _ Renée _ , believe me when I say I owe you like, a thousand.”

She looked at him and gave him a small, weary smile. “We’re gonna get through this, yeah?”   


Eiffel grinned back at her. “We always do, Commander. We always do.”

“Right,” she nodded, and Eiffel watched her armor fall back into place. Her spine straightened and she grew a little taller as she lifted her chin. The weary look was gone, replaced with determination. 

The person in front of him was no longer Renée. This, this was Lieutenant Commander Minkowski, the woman who had gotten them out of Hell (capitalization necessary) on more than one occasion. 

This was the woman he trusted more than he’d ever trusted anyone, and who for some reason reciprocated that trust. 

But as Eiffel slipped back into calling her Commander, he felt a slight pang of disappointment. He resolved that once they got out of this mess, he would start to get to know Renée- not the Lieutenant Commander, and not Minkowski, but Renée. 


End file.
